Jefferson Community Center will be hosting two small group “Outreach Conversations” on January 9 and 17, led by the Seattle Police Department as part of SPD’s Safe Communities initiative. This is Phase II of the outreach project; in Phase I, large precinct-based community meetings were held. The South Precinct meeting, at South Shore K-8 School on October 29, resulted in this community feedback.

Phase III will be a precinct-based “summit” meeting in March 2013, with delegates chosen from attendees at the Phase II meeting. Phase IV, in May, will conclude the process with a report to the community based on the earlier discussions, and identification of the next steps in creating safer neighborhoods by engaging with the community.

The small group meetings will be held at Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave. S.) on Wednesday, January 9 and Thursday, January 17 at 7 p.m. Space is limited for both meetings and sign up is required. To sign up, call Jefferson Community Center at 206-684-7481.

Glenn Tamura has created a proposal to place cameras to capture images of all pedestrians and motorists who travel on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Beacon Avenue South, Columbian Way, and South Orcas Street. (See the map below.)
The cameras would be able to capture license plate information and send images to a remote server via a wireless connection.

Why this area? The KOMO article quotes neighbor Alexis Gallegos, a block watch captain in the Mid-Beacon neighborhood of Lockmore, who says that crime in the area “‘just started escalating…Now it’s to the point where you can’t go to a (neighbor’s house) without having somebody that’s had their door kicked in.'”

Tamura will discuss his proposal with neighbors at a community meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club.

And speaking of KUOW and school closures, they mentioned in our comments the other day that Weekday is featuring the school closure debate today from 9:00-10:00 am with Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and School Board member Michael DeBell among the panelists. KUOW is at 94.9 FM. You can call the show at (800) 289-KUOW or email weekday@kuow.org.